SDA: OHR must remain with full powers, anything else pushes the state into blockades and conflicts

(Patria) - Ahead of the session of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), at which a decision on the appointment of a new High Representative is expected, the public has been flooded with disturbing speculation about the passivisation of the OHR, reductions in powers and the duration of the High Representative's mandate, the SDA announced.

"It is unacceptable that the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose fate is being decided, are not consulted at all, and that their representatives do not even have information about the plans of the international factors tasked with overseeing and implementing the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Therefore, we demand that the PIC clearly and precisely inform the Bosnian public whether any changes are planned in the functioning of the OHR, and present an assessment of how this will affect the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We demand that the candidate for the new High Representative present a programme of action and unequivocally confirm that he will protect the Dayton Peace Agreement and that he will not hesitate to use all the powers provided for by his mandate," the SDA points out.

They note that Bosnia and Herzegovina was imposed a state structure in Dayton that cannot function without Annex 10, i.e., the OHR office.

"This has been confirmed many times by its decisions that resolved numerous crises and blockades, stopped secessionists, prevented 'self-governments', and removed dozens of politicians in a single day who were blocking the state and posing a threat to stability.

At the beginning of his mandate, the High Representative had the support of 60,000 American soldiers, and then the Bonn Powers, which are obviously a necessary mechanism for unblocking the state and preserving peace. The Bonn Power has been used over 800 times in the past 28 years.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently in the most severe crisis since the signing of the Dayton Agreement, exposed to the most direct attacks by secessionists and blockades of its institutions. A High Representative with full powers has never been more needed. Weakening his role would further encourage anti-state forces and inevitably lead to a deepening of the crisis, instability and conflicts, and the collapse of the entire peace agreement. Such a scenario is not in the interest of any well-intentioned and responsible person," the SDA statement reads.